--- In [email protected], gerbal88 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: <snip> > Hi, Bill -- TM is based on two profoundly subtle deceptions, that > the mantra and the method of using the mantra enables one to > experience the absolute or source of thought.
(Note that gerbal never goes on to explain why he says "the mantra enables one to experience the absolute or source of thought." As to his claim that the mantra is a deception, see below for some facts he doesn't tell you.) > This is simply deceitful on Mahesh's part. Since he himself > proclaims that the mantra is a meaningless sound (another of his > lies, since he said at the very beginning of his "mission" that 'we > select the names of gods to bring us specific good things' [a > paraphrase, see Beacon LIght of the Himalayas for his actual > words] -- but in the same speech he also said "any word will do"). Here are the actual words: "Thus we find that any sound can serve our purpose of training the mind to become sharp. But we do not select the sound at random. We do not select any sound like mike, flower, table, pen, wall, etc. because such ordinary sounds can do nothing more than merely sharpening the mind; whereas there are some special sounds which have the additional efficacy of producing vibrations whose effects are found to be congenial to our way of life. "For our practice, we select only the suitable mantras of personal gods. Such mantras fetch to us the grace of personal gods and make us happier in every walk of life." Paraphrases can be used to mislead (speaking of deceit). Note that MMY did not say "names of gods"; nor that "any word will do" to obtain the benefits of TM. Note also (because gerbal won't tell you, speaking of deceit) that this quote is from a lengthy address *to a religious Hindu audience*. MMY was explaining TM to them in the specific context of their own beliefs, which traditionally associate the bija mantras used in TM with particular Hindu deities. The bija mantras actually *predate* the religion(s) of Hinduism. If you aren't a religious Hindu, the bija mantras are, as MMY says, "meaningless sounds." If you are a religious Hindu, the bija mantras are meaningless sounds that are traditionally associated with Hindu deities. > But where does a meaningless sound take us? To meaninglessness, of > course, daydreaming on a grand scale. Or to the Source of Thought, transcendental consciousness. And the "daydreaming" is said to be a manifestation of what MMY calls "release of stress" in the nervous system, "stress" (or samskaras, in traditional yogic parlance) being what is said to get in the way of enlightenment. It's "meaningless" because the content of the thought isn't necessarily related to the stress being released, it's just a matter of the energy of the stress being released kicking up mental activity as it departs. And when we discover we > are "off" the mantra, off on some meaningless daydream, we begin to > have a thought of the manta just as effortlessly as we noticed we > were drifting about. This takes us to more profound > phantasmagorical an aspecific daydreaming. Or to the Source of Thought, transcendental consciousness. > The person verifying the correctness of our meditatio asks: did you > notice some moments when there was no mantra and no thought. No, that question is never asked during the regular checking procedure. It's asked only during the three group discussions following initial instruction (usually the first), and then only if someone in the group hasn't already volunteered that they've had this experience. > Oh, yes, we remember that. Well, we may remember that, or we may not. > No thought? Just what? Limbo? No thought/no mantra is not clarity > of thought. Nobody said it was, of course. That would make no sense. If we only remember that it happened but were not awake when > it happened, weren't aware of it happening, I don't think > contemporary psych schools of thought will find this a particularly > good thing. And "contemporary psych schools of thought" are, of course, the leading authorities on the millennia-old practice of meditation, in contrast to the schools that have taught it through the ages and *virtually unanimously* hold the experience to be of great value. It's not just something MMY dreamed up, in other words (although you'd never know that from gerbal's account). Google "pure consciousness" or "transcendental consciousness" and look at the non-TM-related entries. There are thousands of them. Bill, if you're reading this, you're a relatively rare phenomenon on this forum, a person who knows very little about TM and has never practiced it. Nothing wrong with that at all, but it makes you vulnerable to the sort of misinformation and deliberate misinterpretation that a few particularly bitter, cynical, and unscrupulous former TMers will attempt to pass off as legitimate criticism. It's unfortunate that such people are so eager to exploit your ignorance to further their anti- TM agenda, but that's just the way it is. As I said before, the only thing you can do is make sure you get both sides of the story and then make up your own mind. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
